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- Fri Jul 17, 2015 1:14 pm#472492
hi! my son is a guarantor for his daughter, who on several occasions has missed the rent date, they then send a letter saying he needs to pay the rent + £10 extra for sending the letter... she evidently pays the rent a few day late.......my question is are they allowed to do this ? having asked her how long the original tenancy was for, she said 6months........ she has been in the house almost 2 yrs. My son has not signed any other agreement other than the original , does this mean he is no longer guarantor ......thanks

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- Fri Jul 17, 2015 5:06 pm#472493
Hi,Firstly, different guarantor agreements have different terms so your son will need to check the terms of the guarantor agreement. It is likely that he has guaranteed to pay any amount owed by the tenant to the landlord (or his or her agent).Your son may think he has just guaranteed to pay any rent owed but in fact he may be liable to pay for any monies owed, for example damage to the property. Although the initial period of the tenancy was 6 months, this is merely a fixed term and the end of the fixed term does not terminate the tenancy so the guarantee will remain in place until the tenancy comes to an end by either the landlord or the tenant giving a valid notice terminating the tenancy.Whether they can charge a fee for each letter demanding money depends on the terms of the guarantee. If the guarantor agreement is silent on charges then they cannot add them unless they are a term or condition of the tenancy agreement. The same goes for interest on monies due.The key here, as I said earlier, is to check the guarantor agreement which should state how long the guarantor will be liable if the tenant doesn't pay (usually for as long as the tenancy lasts) and exactly what monies can be claimed under the guarantee (usually any debt for which the tenant is liable).I would suggest your son has a word with his daughter about late payment of rent and suggest she checks her rent statement to see if the charges for sending your son a letter when she is making late payments have been added to her account as arrears. If they have, she should try and pay them off as once she is in arrears she is at risk of possession proceedings and your son is at risk of having to foot the bill!.Hope this helpsSally